A hilarious companion to I Wanna Iguana that all siblings will relate to. Ever since their baby sister came along, Alex has been forced to share a room with his little brother, Ethan, and it's a nightmare. Ethan always breaks stuff, snores like a walrus, and sticks crayons up his nose. No hardworking, well-behaved, practically grown-up boy like Alex should have to put up with that! Writing letters to his mom convinced her to let him get his pet iguana, so Alex puts pencil to paper again, this time determined to get his own room. Though all of his powers of persuasion can't get his dad to expand the house, he does come through with a fun alternative to give Alex some space of his own. Look for more stories highlighting Alex's negotiation skills: I Wanna Iguana and I Wanna Go Home. K-Gr 3–In this companion to I Wanna Iguana (Putnam, 2004), irrepressible Alex is back with a new entreaty–his own room, puh-leez–played out in another series of letter exchanges. Now sharing a room with his younger brother in the wake of his sister's birth, Alex delivers his first written plea to Mom, who, in the depths of postpartum exhaustion, refers him to his father. Thus do Alex and his good-natured dad begin their own guy-to-guy letter exchange, with Alex detailing Ethan's various transgressions (“He sticks crayons up his nose and barks like a walrus!”) and his reasonable father reminding him that he was no different at the age of four. Back and forth go Alex's complaints and his father's practical rejoinders until Dad suggests that they build a tree house together, where surely Alex can find some peace and quiet. Indeed, it's too quiet–and Alex's final letter is to Ethan, inviting him to play in his new retreat. The last page shows the brothers happily ascending the tree-house ladder together. As spun out in the exchanges, the child vs. parent points of view and the sibling rivalry all ring hilariously true. Catrow's zany pencil and watercolor illustrations capture perfectly the madcap daydreams in Alex's head as well as the familiar detritus of a young boy's room. (The iguana still lives there!) A surefire kid-pleaser with a subtle, sweet lesson in peaceful coexistence.–Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. As in I Wanna Iguana (2004), this story about a child tired of sharing a room with his pesky little brother is told through letters and illustrated in energetic, cartoon-style illustrations. Alex pleads for his own room and complains about his little brother Ethan—“He sticks crayons up his nose and barks like a walrus”—while a fantastical double-page image shows Ethan as a walrus in action. Finally, Dad builds Alex a tree house, but once he is alone in his new space, Alex misses all the family chaos. The slapstick, sibling anger, and crowding issues are all spot-on. Preschool-Grade 2. --Hazel Rochman "Orloff’s second epistolary tale is just as inventive and enjoyable as the first. Catrow’s distinctive pencil-and-watercolor illustrations elevate the (mostly) realistic exchange in the letters to deliriously preposterous heights. The nearly wordless conclusion is as satisfying as it is unexpected. A sneaky lesson wrapped up in a flaky bundle of fun." — Kirkus Reviews "Alex and his good-natured dad begin their own guy-to-guy letter exchange . . . [and] the child vs. parent points of view and the sibling rivalry all ring hilariously true. Catrow's zany pencil and watercolor illustrations capture perfectly the madcap daydreams in Alex's head as well as the familiar detritus of a young boy's room. (The iguana still lives there!) A surefire kid-pleaser with a subtle, sweet lesson in peaceful coexistence." — School Library Journal "The slapstick, sibling anger, and crowding issues are all spot-on." — Booklist Karen Kaufman Orloff lives in Hopewell Junction, New York. David Catrow, illustrator of the Book Sense Best Book of the Year Finalist Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon , lives in Springfield, Ohio. We search for any book you like In Chinese, Russian and Spanish Service for Businesses, Individuals, Governments, Universities Any medium you choose, that is available Read, Learn, Research and Enjoy